The Uchihas On Parenting
by i-hime
Summary: CHAPTER 3: Pep-talks and Tough Love: Seven year olds were easier to console than fifteen year olds. Especially when the kid in question was having self-esteem issues. SasuSaku Anthology
1. Chapter 1

I've really wanted to start an anthology series based on a theme so… After countless ideas typed out in my phone, this came. Also, this will be my breather from the stories I'm writing because an author needs a break sometimes. =)

Enjoy.

**Read and Review. It'll make my day.**

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**XX**

**The Uchihas on Parenting-Chapter 1: How it's made: **"Tou-san, how is ramen made?" He smirked and patted his son's head. "How is ice cream made?" Kids were cute; so filled with innocent curiosity—asking questions here and there about regular items. Heh, he couldn't wait until they discovered ninja tools. "Tou-san? How was _I _made?" Ok, he took it back, he _hated_ kids, even if this one was his.

XX

The front door to their bedroom creaked open early in the morning, letting in a few streaks of bright light from the outside of the dark master's bedroom. The beams of light cast a subtle glow around the darkly painted room, rousing its inhabitants from their deep sleep. Sasuke's eye snapped open and he moved his arm quickly; snatching a kunai from under his pillow when a light hand stopped him; giving his forearm a squeeze. "It's probably Daisuke." A feminine voice mumbled sleepily. He heard her shift in her side,

A rustle of blankets filled the room. Sakura flipped to face her husband and gave him a smile. "Hey." She greeted the man with the tousled hair next her and letting Sasuke pull her to him. "Hey." He mumbled, putting his face in between her shoulder and the crook of Sakura's neck.

Suddenly, a weight pressed down on the bed and Sasuke let out a short breath of laughter. "He's taking this ninja thing seriously at such a young age." Ever since Daisuke found out about the Ninja Academy from his uncle Naruto a few weeks ago, he's been "ninja-ing" his way around the house non-stop. It was the cutest thing ever until you accidentally stepped on one of his traps wherein you end up in a tangle of yarn and string—that wasn't cute.

Sakura raised a brow at him her expression was both condescending and amused. "Like that's a problem for you." she smirked and pulled away slightly to give him a pointed glance. "You were the one who wanted to give him a dull-tipped kunai for his first birthday." Sasuke shrugged and pulled her closer again. "The kid needs to get used to the weight of the weapon."

"At the age of _one?" _

"The sooner the better." Sasuke was already thinking of starting Daisuke's training once he turned three this year. He stole a glance at his son who was trying his hardest to sneak up on his parents, a determined look set in the child's obsidian orbs.

Besides, Daisuke seemed into the whole aspect of being a ninja—he wouldn't mind training in lieu of walks in the park.

"We're not cutting off his playtime." Sakura whispered, as if reading his thoughts. Sasuke tightened his hold around her and grumbled in annoyance at her lacklustre views on the early training of their child. Did the pressures of being the son of a mega couple not occur to her? And Daisuke was not only their kid, he was also the team's kid. Team Seven— Power was what they were known for—what their _team _was known for. And Daisuke was the first kid born into team seven; the first descendant.

That meant that Daisuke would be trained early anyway by his eager uncles and he'd be damned if his son would end up—

"Kagebunshin no jutsu!" a small voice yelled, a child of no older than two landed on Sasuke's side. The older male gave Sakura a scolding look. "Naruto's already started. At this rate, he'll have him learning the Rasengan before I even introduce a fire jutsu." He complained to his wife who rolled her eyes.

"He's excited, Sasuke-kun. He's our fist kid—Team seven's first kid." Sasuke scoffed and grabbed his son, he flipped to his back to look at his son with pride. "He and the Hyuga should hurry up then. This kid is mine."

Daisuke smirked. "Kami-sama! He has your smirk!" Sakura cooed, pinching her son's cheeks and grinning. "But you've got kaa-san's charming attitude, don't you? Huh? Don't you?" Sasuke snorted. He hoped not. Sakura's temper was something he didn't want Daisuke to have inherited. Dealing with a temperamental teenager in the future was not something he was looking forward to.

"Kaa-san! You didn't see me, didn't you?" The child in Sasuke's grip laughed happily. "Nope, I couldn't sense your chakra at all."

Daisuke smirked again. "Naruto-ji told me I was powerful." His chest puffed with pride and Sasuke couldn't help but feel a bubble of warmth begin to spread through his being at the sight of his beautiful son.

"Of course you are." Sasuke stated proudly, giving his son a smile before turning to Sakura who had begun getting out of bed. He stretched his arm out and grabbed her wrist before she could slip out the bed. She turned to look at him, her pink hair flying as she whipped her head to the side. "I'm needed at the hospital." She grinned sheepishly at her two boys and proceeded to slip out of the bed.

Sakura had a blanket covering herself, Sasuke eyed her playfully earning glare from his wife whose face began to bloom red. She made a gesture for him to turn around so she could slip on his shirt that lay discarded on the floor.

He rolled his eyes but complied. Sasuke's eyes drifted to his son's. "I'm off today, what do you want to do?" he asked the young boy who was seated on his stomach. Said boy looked thoughtful, his lower lip jutting out while he processed his father's question before coming to look at Sasuke with a smile tugging at his features.

"Naruto-ji!" the little boy exclaimed excitedly. His eyes sparkling when he pictured his bright-haired Oji-san grinning at him and making funny faces. Sasuke looked alarmingly at Sakura who was already in her black shorts and navy long-sleeved shirt that he had convinced her to ditch the red top for. "He's beginning to like the dobe more than his own father."

"Dobe?" Daisuke echoed.

Sakura looked horrified. Their son could more or less talk and use simple words unlike most kids his age but he was still far from normal speech and would still echo what he hears. _Dobe_ was something she didn't want him learning.

Sasuke on the other hand nodded at his child in approval. "Yes, I like you." he stated, hugging the confused child gently before releasing him. "You have to like him, he's ours for 18 years." Sakura mentioned, tugging her knee-high ninja sandals on and walking to the males.

"Ok, I'll see you guys later. Tou-san will fix you breakfast, suke-kun because Kaa-san is late for her shift." She bent down to kiss her little tyke on the forehead and then moved to Sasuke. Sakura leaned in for a chaste kiss on the lips but Sasuke had other plans: he met her halfway; lifting his head up when she lowered hers and put a hand behind her head; deepening the kiss, making it last a few more seconds before he released her.

The shocked rosette blushed slightly while Sasuke smirked. "You're late Uchiha Sakura, get going." With one more wave at the two, Sakura bounded out the door, leaving the other two alone to fend for themselves until she came home.

Sasuke and Daisuke stared at each other, both not really sure what to do. Sasuke had never handled Daisuke alone before due to constant missions and ANBU paperwork. Being Head ANBU captain took dedication and sacrifice. Though he made sure to spend time with his family, there was never a circumstance wherein he had ended up alone with their first born son.

"Tou-san." The toddler drawled in what Sasuke perceived to be annoyance. The Uchiha patriarch gazed at his offspring. Daisuke had a small frown forming and his eyes that looked so much like his father's held the tone of impatience—yes, this was definitely _his _kid.

In a sudden burst of movement, Sasuke sat up, swinging Daisuke along as he bounded out of his previous position. He sat on the edge of the bed, with the young Uchiha in one arm while his free hand ran through his spiky locks sleepily.

"Breakfast…"

He got up from the bed and walked out the room, toddler in tow.

* * *

After a failed breakfast which mainly consisted of food getting thrown at his face and a wrestling match between him and his _two year old _son, Sasuke was ready to go bed again. He eyed his son warily while the little boy ate a rice-ball, his face a mess of rice and fish while he chomped away his breakfast.

With a groan, Sasuke ruffled his hair and stared down a passer-by who dared give him a weird look. There was absolutely nothing wrong with a man and a child eating at a small shop at seven in the morning. And it was definitely not weird that Sasuke's favorite dark shirt was stained with food and his shorts, that he loved so dearly, splattered with juice.

Another sigh escaped his mouth. He'd come home cleaner from any S-rank mission he's ever been on. His self-pity ended abruptly when Daisuke tugged at the hem of Sasuke's shirt. The young father looked at his son with a raised brow.

"Tou-san! How are riceballs made?" the boy inquired lightly, rolling the food item between his two small hands and grinning at the squishy sound they made. Obsidian orbs rolled. Daisuke was in his questioning stage quite early. Most children his age couldn't even t_alk. _And there he was, asking question after question, _after question._

Ithad started earlier in the week when Sakura read to him about how noodles were made, after that, it all went downhill. Not a day went by without Daisuke asking a question about how a certain thing came to be. Sometimes, he didn't even have to voice out the question; he's just hold out the item and give either him or Sakura a look that screamed. 'Tell me how it's made'

Sasuke, who'd prided himself in his intellect though not as highly acclaimed as Sakura's, had to even research for some of the answers to Daisuke's inquiries. After all, how an x-ray machine was made was not common knowledge and his son was not satisfied with the answer: 'they put circuits and wires in a box'

The Uchiha waved his arm lazily to grab the chef's attention. The little old man quickly arrived in front of him, a nice and warm smiled etched on his face. "May I help you, Uchiha-san?" he asked politely, bowing at his costumer.

Sasuke gestured to his son with a sweep of his arm. "Daisuke, what did you want to know?" he prodded his son who'd begun slamming the riceballs onto the counter creating mounds of sticky rice on the once pristine polished wood table. He could see the chef wince a little at the mess he'd probably have to clean up later. Sasuke felt for him, rice was hard to clean and _smashed _rice was even harder to clean. He knew because he had first-hand experience.

At the slight prod from his father, Daisuke abandoned his riceball massacre, putting the chef and Sasuke at ease, to look at the kind-faced old man. "How are rice balls made?" he wanted to know how such an amazing dish was made—how did the fish get inside? Why were there vegetables in it? Questions swarmed his head like insects and he couldn't help but let the curiosity get the best of him. "Can you teach me?" he asked loudly, jumping on his stool and leaning on the glass that acted as a small and short barrier between the counters and the inside of the small stall.

"Daisuke," Sasuke was about to pull down his son and lecture him when the old man stopped him and offered him a smile. "I don't see why not. Why don't you come in for a few minutes." His suggestion was a question in disguise directed at Sasuke. The shop owner gazed at the Uchiha expectantly and eventually he gave in.

"Hn, ten minutes." He mumbled.

Daisuke laughed happily and leapt over the glass and into the old man's arms. "Riceballs!" he yelled. "Daisuke…" Sasuke growled, fearing for the old man's back and his son's safety. This boy was too fired up for his own good he thought with a frown. There was no doubt that there was a lot of Sakura in the kid.

"Pink-haired fireball disguised as a mini-me." He grumbled, taking the first bite out of his onigiri.

* * *

_Twenty _minutes later, Daisuke emerged from the kitchen looking accomplished and proud of his handiwork. He had in his arms, a box of the riceballs he made and he handed them to his father who'd set down the menu that he'd read at least thirty times while waiting for his son to finish.

"Tou-san! Look! I made them!" he said while presenting Sasuke the box. "That's my boy." Sasuke said while ruffling the youngster's spiky hair. His head lifted to meet the elderly chef's face, Sasuke sent him an appreciative glance and took his wallet out to pay for their meals a_nd _the riceball making lesson.

The chef however pushed the payment back. "No, No, Uchiha-san. It was my pleasure."

Daisuke smiled. "Thank you, chef-sama-kun!" he exclaimed, earning a groan from his father and an amused chuckle from the chef. "Come back soon, little one."

"Oh, boy…" Sasuke muttered under his breath. Why did he have a feeling that his son's relationship with riceballs and this store would rival Naruto's penchant for Ichiraku's ramen.

* * *

"Tou-san! How is ice cream made?" a childish voice pierce through his wall of thoughts. Sasuke cracked his eyes open and slid his gaze to his son who was staring out at a small ice cream cart. After breakfast, they found themselves wandering around aimlessly when the tyke had decided that he wanted to go the park.

And so they did.

Ice cream. Of all the things that he could ask about, he chose ice cream. Granted he was a child, but really….ice cream? "It's milk, sugar, cream and a certain flavour mixed and churned together." He explained briefly, using hand gestures as he spoke. "Then it's frozen." Sasuke finished and settled back down on the bench's back rest.

Daisuke nodded as he absorbed the information given to him by his all-knowing father. With a grin, he switched his gaze from the cart to the balloon that was seemingly stuck on one of the trees. Instantly, questions began to filter into his brain as he took in the sight of the big red balloon. "Tou-san, how are balloons made?"

When parents say they loved hearing their kid's voice, they clearly didn't have them asking a question every ten seconds. "It's rubber or latex that's filled with helium." The toddler's face was schooled into a mask of confusion. "What's helium?"

"You'll know when you're older." Sasuke smirked inwardly. He had been dying to say that.

"Tou-san, how was—

Sasuke gazed at Daisuke seriously. "Suke, quiet time."

With a smirk of triumph on his lips, Uchiha Sasuke relaxed and let his gaze wander around the park, enjoying the peacefulness and fresh air when he felt another tug at his shirt. Daisuke was standing on the bench and looking at his face.

"Tou-san," he began in a whisper, he little chubby face, a splitting image of him, looked so innocent. "how are benches made?"

Clearly he'd have to think of a better excuse next time.

* * *

Sasuke abandoned the park; it had too many items for his son to ask about so after spending a total of ten minutes there, he grabbed his son and led him to a different place: the bookstore. He figured reading would put Daisuke whirring mind at ease—the words and pictures would distract him and let the boy ponder quietly to himself while Sasuke could sit back and read the paper.

Boy, was he wrong.

Well he didn't realize he was wrong until later. As soon as the pair walked in, Daisuke made a mad dash to the children's section, dragging Sasuke who only had enough time to grab a newspaper from one of the stacks near the door.

Upon reaching the section, Sasuke handed his son three books to read and had finally gotten the peace he'd wanted all morning. In fact, half an hour had gone by without a work from Daisuke. He just sat there, Indian style with a book on his little lap as he poured over the contents though he couldn't exactly read.

Sasuke was about to call it a victory when a small shadow cast over his face. He lowered his paper to stare at his son questioningly expecting to be asked to reach for a few more books for Daisuke to read. But alas, instead of asking for more books, Daisuke held up the book he'd been reading and pointed at a picture of a huge clay pot.

"How are pots made?" he'd asked a defeated Sasuke. He was about to open his mouth to explain when Daisuke flipped the page to reveal a man sitting on a chair. "Tou-san, how are chairs made?"

"Oh never mind. How are lamps made?"

"How are—

Sasuke cut off his son's ramble. "Do you want to visit Naruto Oji-san?" he asked in a desperate attempt to quiet the child. If there was one person that could keep up with kids, it was Naruto since technically, he was one himself.

Daisuke dropped the question at the mention of his uncle's name. He nodded vigorously and jumped. "Yay! Naruto-ji!" he took his father's hand and ran out of the bookstore.

* * *

The Uzumaki household looked quiet and still. A huge coy pond surrounded the front of the house; a wide wooden bridge that arched was the only way to get from the gate to the other side. Daisuke bounded across the bridge, followed hastily by a worried Sasuke. Because with a kid like Daisuke, he'd probably wonder what it was like to be a fish and jump into the pond.

The Uchihas reached the other side and after much nagging and prodding from the youngest of the two, Sasuke finally rapped on the knocker. The door swung open revealing a dark haired woman with extremely light eyes clad in a dark blue yukata with a lavender obi. Hinata must've been off too and was visiting Naruto. "Sasuke-san!" Hinata greeted in surprise. Sasuke couldn't blame her, their visit was quite unexpected.

"Hina-chan! Who is it?" A loud voice echoed from the inside of the house. Hinata opened the door wider so Sasuke could see Naruto in his usual black and orange combo approach the door in excitement. "If it's baa-chan, tell her that this house is awesome and that—TEME!" he greeted warmly when he saw his team mate standing outside.

"Come in, Come in!" he gestured to father and son to enter his home. "Oi, Suke! How're you?" The little boy ran up to hug him. Naruto bent down to scoop the child up into his arms and throw him up in the air. Daisuke cried in delight as he was continuously tossed up in the air by the blonde man. "Not bad eh, teme?" he asked in between tosses, gesturing to his house with jerk of his head.

Sasuke's gaze swept through the living room and to the stairs. "Two-storeys, three baths and four rooms plus a master bedroom." Naruto narrated. Sasuke smirked. "A little big for just you, don't you think?"

Naruto's eyes landed on Hinata for a moment before he turned to wink at Sasuke. "I'm working on filling it up." Hinata blushed and studied the wooden floor beneath her as if it held all of life's answers.

"Marry her first, dobe."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "We're getting there." He set Daisuke down gently and grinned at HInata. "Aren't we,Hina-chan?" he asked fondly, walking over to where she stood and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, giving a tight squeeze before letting go.

"Naruto-ji! Naruto-ji!" Daisuke hollered, he'd walked over to a small statue of ramen that was perched on a side table next to the couch. Amused blue eyes followed the boy's gaze to the ramen sculpture. "How is ramen made?"

Sasuke smirked and leaned against the wall. "Hn. Enjoy, dobe."

"Well, Daisuke… there is a magical land that grows noodles on trees, has rivers of broths and grew bushes that bore all the topping you want," Naruto started, walking over to the intrigued boy and making wild hand gestures as he spoke. "But only a man named Teuchi and his daughter Ayame could enter and use the ingredients that this land produced."

Sasuke looked at Hinata who smiled apologetically. "How does he explain milk? That it is of the divine river of Kami herself?" Hinate giggled. "You're as good as Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san."

He shrugged and smirked. "I'm married to Sakura, what do you expect?"

Hinata used her head to gesture to Daisuke who'd moved on from the ramen statue to one of Naruto's 'orange' books that the blonde was desperately trying to hide. "I expected _that._"

"Teme! Help me!" Naruto bellowed from the top of the stairs where Daisuke was attempting to slide down from banister. "What do you feed this kid?" he asked in exasperation as he tried to pry the boy off the precarious banister lest he fall and break his neck which would lead his father to slide a sword through the blonde's stomach for not stopping the child.

"Go ahead, Sasuke-san." Hinata looked up at Daisuke worriedly. "At this rate, it looks like Naruto will need the saving."

"Teme! Take him, take him, take him!" As soon as Sasuke reached to top of the stairs, Naruto handed Daisuke to him and collapsed on the floor. "Teme, this kid almost gave me a heart attack…"

Daisuke who'd been oblivious to the commotion he had caused, looked up at Sasuke with his big and wide inky black eyes. "Tou-san, how is a heart attack made?"

The older Uchiha shook his head and set his child down on the ground. "Having a kid."

* * *

Their visit with Naruto lasted the whole day. They had lunch with the blonde and his girlfriend. Played some games and answered questions. _A lot _of questions.

Soon, it grew dark and Hinata had to leave for a family dinner. The two Uchihas stayed a while longer with the soon-to-be Hokage. Naruto and Sasuke discussed missions and training while Daisuke played around the house, coming up to them ever so often to ask about how a certain thing was made.

At nine in the evening, Sasuke finally convinced his little one that they would come and visit Naruto next time but for now they needed to go home. Daisuke fought against leaving but after a few calming words from Naruto and a promise that he could come any time, the boy finally agreed to leave with his father. Sasuke had told Naruto that he too could visit anytime—Sakura loved having the blonde around even if it was just a quick visit.

Now, after their long day, they were in Sasuke's study/office where he did his paper work and read files. They were seated on the left side of the room where the bookcases and plush chairs were. Sasuke was perched on a chair while the youngster was on the floor, playing with a toy train that they bought on the way home.

"Tou-san?" Daisuke called from the floor. Sasuke set his files on the arm rest of his chair and glanced at his son. "Hn"

Daisuke looked thoughtful before he voiced his question. "How was _I _made?" the question caught the young father off guard and he stumbled and struggled for a way to answer his question. He took a gulp of air before squaring his shoulders and opening his mouth to speak, he tried his hardest to keep his gaze locked on his son's eyes despite the strong urge to want to avoid it.

How the fuck was he going to explain how he was conceived?

"Well it's different for every person." Sasuke began awkwardly. Beads of sweat began gathering on his forehead as the question weighed on him like a ton of bricks. How was it that a simple question could have this effect on him? He'd faced interrogations so brutal that it drove many men insane and still kept his calm façade. But this, this question from his two year old son, had him fretting to near exhaustion.

The Uchiha blinked rapidly and swallowed hard. You know what? Screw it. The truth shall set you free. "You see son, your mom and I did it this way: it was in this room and on that very table." He pointed to a heavy mahogany desk at the center of the room, pushed back against the wall.

"That was where I bang-

Sakura who'd arrived just in time, slapped a hand over his mouth painfully, the sound of skin hitting skin echoed through the room. She was wild eyed; her usually calm green eyes were panic-stricken. The rosette looked at her husband like her was insane. Because well… He was.

"He's fucking two years old!"

The young boy smiled at them toothily. "Fucking?" Sasuke who'd been poised to retort with a scathing remark, stopped midway and let his eyes travel to Daisuke who looked like he like the feel of the word. "Fucking." He repeated only this time louder.

Sakura blanched and Sasuke smirked. "That, son, is how babies are—

"Uchiha Sasuke, SHUT UP."

Sakura began pacing back and forth, her pink hair swaying as she moved her head from side to side; glancing at Sasuke and to Daisuke. "You have the Mangekyou… it's stronger than the normal one. Use it—change his memory, recreate it, edit it—DO SOMETHING."

"Sakura, he's a kid. He'll forget it sooner or later." Sakura glared at him with a ferocity that could scare away the most hardened criminals. "He might not."

"He wi—

"Tou-san, how is a Mangekyou made?"

It was an automatic answer for Sasuke. He'd had people lecturing and asking him about for so long that it was ingrained in his mind to give the same answer over and over again. And so, without thinking and forgetting who he was talking to, he began explaining.

"You have to ki—

Sakura threw a book at him, a heavy one at that. Sasuke barely escaped a concussion, ducking his head onlyseconds before the book sailed across the room and hit the spot of the chair where his head had been leaning on only moments ago.

Cold eyes pierces Sakura's green angry ones until Sasuke understood why she'd thrown a book at him. Well technically a book was uncalled for but he got why she had been agitated. He was just about to explain the cruel process of getting the Mangekyou to their two year old son. Sakura walked over to Daisuke and picked him up.

"Bath time!" she exclaimed, earning a scowl from her son. Sakura laughed and walked out of the room with a writhing Daisuke who, like any other kid, hated baths.

Once his wife left the room, Sasuke sunk back into his chair and let his eyes fall shut tiredly. "Naruto and Hinate should take their time." He mumbled.

* * *

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**Written at 2 am, sorry for typos.**


	2. Chapter 2

I was surprised over all the love the first one-shot got. =) Thank you so much. Reviews make me feel so happy.

NOTE: Stories won't necessarily be in chronological order because these are separate one-shots after all.

The Uchihas on Parenting

**Chapter 2**: Scary Ambitions. Kids always liked thinking about the future. More specifically: what they wanted to do in the future; although… they changed their minds every two minutes. And being three years old, it was the same for Uchiha Sasuke's son. But if one thing was for sure, he knew that his son would aspire to be something great. "Tou-san! I want to be a fairy!" _Did he just say fairy?_ "Daisuke, put down that wand."

* * *

"Tou-san, Kaa-san!" a three year old Daisuke called as he ran to their bedroom at seven in the morning. His little footsteps echoed lightly as he padded to the bed where his parents were seated; Sakura reading a chart and Sasuke cleaning his weapons.

It was a lazy day for the family.

Sakura looked up with a smile on her lips, putting away her medical files, she'd leave them for later. "What's up, suke-kun?" she asked, helping her son up the bed and putting him between herself and her husband.

Sasuke's eyes darted to his son's grinning face and smirked, tucking the paperwork carelessly into a folder and putting it on his nightstand. Daisuke, sensing that he'd gotten their attention, launched himself from his sitting position to proud standing form. "I know what I want to be when I grow up!"

The Uchiha patriarch shook his head, a small smiling making its way to his lips. Yesterday, during breakfast, his son had wanted to be fisherman, which Sasuke didn't approve of because if you were born with that much power in your blood you'd at least aspire to be something ninja-related, right?

Apparently, not in his son's case—he wanted to be a fisherman.

Sakura saw a look pass on Sasuke's face and immediately whacked him discreetly on the forearm. "What do you want to be, Daisuke?" she asked patiently, eyeing Sasuke with a sharp look before going on to smile at her Sasuke-looking three year old.

"Hokage!" the kid yelled at the top of his lungs, filling the room with his childish declaration. Sasuke shifted and slid off the bed. He stretched and turned to Sakura. "Better than being a baker." He mumbled, walking to the bathroom and flinching at the memory of his son's ambition to bake bread for a living.

_"Daisuke, what's a kunai for?" _Sasuke asked him three days ago during his son's 'Baker Phase', he was trying in vain to spark his son's interest in bloodshed and mayhem; otherwise known as being a ninja. He's seen many children take the bait with the kunai technique. So during a free day, he took his son to his weapons room and showed him a kunai.

_ "For cutting bread!"_ The tactic had clearly failed. He should've gone for the 'Show-a-justu' plan.

Sasuke's ears heard a bubble of laughter from his young son and a chorus of appraisal from his wife. "About time an Uchiha gets to be Hokage." Sasuke mumbled still somewhat sore that the title of Hokage would be handed down to Naruto instead of him. He was happy for his friend but it was his goal too; after the war, he had planned to be Hokage but well, Tsunade had her heart set.

Sakura rolled her eyes and lazily stumbled out of comfortable bed. "C'mon Hokage-sama, let's go make breakfast." Daisuke's face took on a regal look. "I am the Hokage, I don't make breakfast." Sasuke smirked at an irked Sakura. "He has your pride." Sakura grumbled, throwing on a robe and marching out of the room.

Daisuke's face fell. Soon he was bolting out of the room yelling apologies at the, Sasuke guessed, grinning rosette.

* * *

The dining room was full of life, Daisuke was chatting animatedly about being Hokage whilst sitting on one of the stools and leaning on the counter-topped bar table. Sasuke took a seat next to his son and put a hand fondly on his spiky hair. "He never stops talking." He grumbled to Sakura who'd placed two plates of onigiri in front of the two males.

The rosette grinned and poked him. "I'm glad he talks. All I get from you is _Hn." _Sasuke rolled his eyes at his wife's exaggeration over his lack of sociality and sentences. The way he saw it, his way of social etiquette has improved vastly. He'd verbally spar and respond to conversation—for someone who wasn't the talkative type, unless the situation called for it, that was pretty darn intense.

Sasuke's look of total irritation pulled a laugh from Sakura. She bent down and leaned closer so that they were nose to nose. "I'm kidding." Sasuke glared at her chastising tone.

"Hn." He took a bite of his onigiri and let his eyes roam around the kitchen in an attempt to ignore the annoying woman before him who looked like she was watching the funniest comedy ever written.

And that comedy was Uchiha Sasuke—what part of amaterasu-user was funny to her?

Daisuke interrupted the playful feud between his two sanin-trained-and-ready-to-go-at-it parents with a jerk of his head upwards followed by a massive leap; he went from sitting on the stool to standing on it, his feet precariously near the edge, making the wooden stool wobble from the sudden shift of weight.

"Daisuke!" Sakura grabbed his waist while Sasuke steadied the chair in one swift movement, all-the-while maintaining his calm demeanour, not at all fazed unlike Sakura; her face was vivid with panic. He smirked inwardly at how a small child could drive her to her limits.

Sakura's stare bore into the three year old. Sasuke couldn't help but swallow thickly.

"Daisuke what were you—

Her little spur of emotion was interrupted by a childish voice. Daisuke cut Sakura off with an announcement of his own. "I want to be an acrobat!" Sasuke who'd retrieved his last piece of onigiri from the plate and had taken a rather large bite, choked violently.

An _acrobat;_ those performers in unitards that sparkled? The ones who balance on high beams and walk on ropes for fun? No decent ninja offspring has ever aspired to be a mere circus acrobat. _None._ If he wanted to balance, walk on rope and live on the edge of death, he might as well aspire to be what he was supposed to be; a _shinobi. _It was the same thing, minus the pointless stunts and feathery costumes.

A circus performer? What a total waste of their inherited hand-eye and body coordination. Chakra control and self-preservation instincts used as tool to entertain instead of protect the very village they live in? The ability to quicken movement in a split second; did that not hold any value?

Granting, the kid was three and would obviously not acknowledge these assets that have been bioengineered into their DNA and ingrained into their very beings. Sasuke imagined his spiky-haired son, now a fully grown man, clad in a skin-tight and horridly colored shiny leotard while balancing on a rope, his face a mask of false concentration, because let's face it; keeping his balance on a rope would be easy considering he was of ninja lineage.

Sasuke then thought of the hidden power of his eyes that he would never unlock because instead of training in combat, he'd be practicing prancing on a rope; a complete waste of his kekei genkai—unless he was going to trapeze down a rope while the audience was trapped in an apocalyptic illusion, which would ruin the whole point of the entire routine.

Seeing as his thoughts would get him nowhere out of the endless tunnel of 'What-if's and Oh Shit's', Sasuke abandoned them in hopes of finding solace in Sakura's voice of reason.

His dark orbs searched her green eyes for any say in the matter.

"A-Acrobat?" Even Sakura felt unsure of her child's sudden change of heart regarding his career. Even she had to draw the line _somewhere._ And judging from her fake grin and too-strong grip on the counter, acrobat was way over the line. Sasuke felt a sudden urge of dread spread through him like ice, freezing his veins as it slid through his whole body.

"The first Uchiha to ever be an _acrobat_." Sasuke spat the word out, earning a look from Sakura. "Now, Sasuke. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being an acrobat… Even though it's a little different from what we…uh do." Sasuke blatantly ignored her attempt at finding common ground. The kid was engineered to be a Shinobi.

An irritated grumble was heard from the Uchiha patriarch while his wife sighed. How the kid went from almighty Hokage to circus acrobat was astounding and, if not, a little bit scary. "He changes his mind as quick as Naruto." Sasuke commented lowly.

A spark lit his thoughts. Sasuke pinned Sakura with his gaze and narrowed his eyes at her. Sakura, confused for only a few moments, realized what he was accusing her of and directed a fierce glare to him. "He _looks like you_. For all I know, you had the affair."

"With Naruto?" Sasuke coughed. Was she really redirecting this towards him?

Sakura shrugged and pulled down a hyper Daisuke who was trying to scramble up the counter. "For all I know, one of you could be a woman."

He resisted the urge to smack his head down on the marble counter-top. So this was where Daisuke got his weird brain from. "Never mind. He's ours."

"Kaa-san! Let go! I need to train!" Daisuke complained, wriggling and jerking in intervals, attempting to get out of his mother's iron grip. "Let gooooo!" Sakura however, let out a small yawn and readjusted her grip on the tyke. "Honey, when you're done, finish your breakfast, okay?"

"But Kaa-san! Training!"

Sasuke could only wish Daisuke meant ninja training. "I'm not buying him a unitard."

* * *

"Sakura, I have a meeting with the Hokage in fifteen minutes, get a sitter for suke." Sasuke knocked on the bathroom door while his free hand adjusted one of his ninja sandals. He heard the shower curtain slide open and a faint pull of fabric as Sakura covered up.

The door opened and Sakura popped her head out, her hair still dripping wet from her shower. "What? No one can babysit him now! And we need a trusted shinobi because the last time we let a civilian do it, they ran home crying." Sakura's tone was half amused and half stressed. Because really, who wouldn't find a snobby teenage girl crying because a three year old didn't like her.

Sasuke checked his clock on his bedside table. "Sakura, I have to go. And I can't take Daisuke with me. You know that." He had his sword slung over his back and Sakura noticed that he was in his gear. Immediately the rosette pouted. "Your clock is always fifteen minutes advanced," she pointed to her own clock on her table. "You have time to take him to Ino's"

So far, Ino was the only person available enough to watch Daisuke at such sporadic times. Others didn't mind but they were too busy and couldn't babysit unless they had a notice two days before. Ino's schedule was flexible enough to entertain sudden babysitting favours. Plus, she loved having the little Uchiha around; they got along great and Daisuke would even help her water the plants whenever he was in her house.

"Your clock is advanced too." He replied in exasperation. Naruto had mentioned two days ago that he was dying to train, Sasuke agreed and decided that they could spend a few minutes training before their meeting with Tsunade and then continue after.

Sakura sighed "By _five _minutes. Look could you _please_ take him to Ino?" With a small glare at his wife Sasuke crossed his arms. "I'm going to train for a few minutes before the meeting."

"And I'm _naked_." Sakura's green eyes were hard. "I think I win."

The Uchiha was about to give in and call for their son who was busy playing with his toy soldiers on their bed when Daisuke piped up. "Kaa-san! I want to be a doctor!" Sasuke seized this opportunity. "Daisuke, Kaa-san is an extremely great medic. You can go to work with her."

Daisuke lit up and beamed at Sakura. "Can I? Can I, Kaa-san?" Sasuke glanced at her smugly. "Say yes before he says he wants to be an acrobat again."

Sakura glared at him. Of all the times Sasuke could've used his manipulative abilities, he chose now. "I hate you." she grumbled but admitted defeat, giving into his son's request. She was closing the bathroom door to finish up when Sasuke stopped her, putting a hand on the door.

"Thank you." he said quietly, kissing her forehead before letting her shut the bathroom door.

* * *

Sakura had gotten out of the shower dressed and ready to go. With a small sigh, she grabbed Daisuke by the hand and proceeded to take him to his room to change. "Tou-san gave you a bath, right?" the boy nodded.

"Okay. Let's get you changed so we can go." She strode quickly to his closet and picked out a navy shirt with a high-collar, similar to the one Sasuke wore when he was younger, and a pair of black cargo shorts. Sakura began to dress her son quickly and tossed his used clothes into a hamper near the door.

"Alright! We're set! Let's go." Daisuke grinned. "Kaa-san! Can we flash step there?"

"With pleasure."

* * *

Mother and son arrived at the hospital in a few minutes. Sakura saw a few doctors come out and walked up to one of them. "Miyaki-san! Do you happen to have a medical mask on you, right now?" The blonde doctor smiled and reached into her pocket to check. "Uchiha-san," she greeted happily before she pulled out a still-sealed-in –plastic-medical mask. "Here, I was going to give one to visitor but she decided not to see the patient."

Sakura took the offered mask and thanked the woman. "Kid duty." She mentioned, gesturing to her Daisuke with her head while she put on his mask. "Yamanaka-san is about to finish her volunteer shift, doesn't she babysit for you?" Miyaki smiled at Daisuke. "You could have her take him because…"

The rosette grinned. "I have a surgery scheduled today?" she asked. Sakura was well aware of her back to back surgeries. That was mainly why she felt a little frazzled about taking her son with her today. She'd be worried about her son while poking at someone's exposed insides; that wasn't a situation she wanted to be in.

"Yeah. Basically." Miyaki answered. She checked her watch and gasped a little. "Gotta run, Uchiha-san!" Sakura waved at the medic who was already halfway to the door. "Thanks again!" Miyaki gave them a quick smile before disappearing inside the building.

Turning to Daisuke, Sakura started explaining. "Ok, this is a hospital, not a playground. People here are sick and injured. Keep the mask on at all times because you might catch something." A little bacteria wouldn't hurt but this was she didn't want to bombard him with too much at one go. So a mask was a necessity for now.

Daisuke nodded and took her outstretched hand. They walked inside the hospital and were greeted by a flurry of men and women in white coats or in scrubs. "Stay close, ok? I'll take you to my office and when Ino-obasan, is done, she'll take care of you."

Sakura, with her little Uchiha in tow, proceeded to the front desk and began looking at the charts of the patients assigned to her. "The patient at 14-b, has to be transferred to the ICU." The secretary informed her. The rosette checked the chart and made a mental note to up her anti biotic dosage. "Is Yamanaka still in?"

"Psychiatric wing, as usual. She'll be done soon. I don't even think she was supposed to come in today." Sakura grinned. "I'm glad she did. Ok, I have a surgery in two hours, have the operating room 16 ready." With that, she stacked her charts together and put them under her arm.

She smiled and waved goodbye to the secretary before they made their way to the Psych wing of the hospital; to the left of the building.

The hallway was wide and lined with doors, some led to storage rooms and others to offices or rooms for patients. A few meters further, the hallway opened wider into a mini lobby; another front desk at its center; this one managed only the Psych wing activities whereas the previous one oversaw every wing and department.

Sakura reached the desk, that was handled by a kind looking old woman, and asked for Ino. "Her last patient just left, she's in her office."

"Who's looking for Yamanaka-san?" a small looking woman no older than twenty two asked. Sakura recognized her as Ino's secretary. She waved and pointed to a gleeful looking Daisuke. "She's got a date."

The young secretary grinned. "And with an Uchiha too. Lucky." She joked while winking at a proud looking Daisuke. "Kaa-san, I want to be a secretary." The old woman behind the desk chuckled. "Oh dear, he's in that stage is he?"

Sakura groaned aloud and looked at her; complete tiredness in her pretty features. "Yeah, he's been rapid-firing career goals at us since this morning." It was cute at the same time tiring considering half of the time, she was mortified over the career goals her son mentioned—Especially that acrobat phase earlier in the morning. The woman nodded in understanding and threw a motherly look at the young boy. "Why do you want to be a secretary?"

The child grinned and jumped up and down making Sakura struggle with her five charts that threatened to fall. The young secretary came to her aid, grabbing a few charts that were about to fall. The rosette muttered a breathless thanks to her.

"Because secretaries are cool." The youngest of the three women snorted. "I'd love to have his mindset." Her retort made the pink-haired medic giggle. "You should hear his views on life."

Just then, Sakura's pager sprang to life, beeping and vibrating inside her coat's pocket. She reached in quickly and slid the rectangular object out. "My surgery was moved. I'm needed now." With a quick look at Ino's secretary, Sakura asked if she could take Daisuke to Ino while she, herself, made a mad dash to the OR and pick up some interns to scrub in.

"I'll take him, Uchiha-san." Ino's secretary, Kimiko was her name, stuck her hand out for Daisuke to take. The little boy looked up at his mom for permission. "Go ahead, Kaa-san has to go to an emergency surgery." She bent down so that she was eye to eye with him. "You're going to be with Ino-obachan, okay? Behave and please, no pranking." She kissed his forehead and looked up at Kimiko. "Ino usually likes taking him back to the estate. So tell her he's hers until seven."

Sakura used to pick him up after every babysitting session, but Ino had made it clear that she wanted to take the little tyke home. Sakura had no idea why but she figured Ino wouldn't shut up until she got her way so the rosette gave in.

"Got it, Uchiha-san!" Kimiko exclaimed, now holding Daisuke up in her arms. "Ja, Kaa-san!" the mini-Sasuke called out.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was in her office stacking files of patient profiles back into their specified holders. Her desk was cluttered with notes and pens. With a sigh she nudged her bottom drawer close with her foot and collapsed on her backrest. Boy, was she tired.

The blonde had come in thinking she'd have a few patients here and there—that wasn't the case at all. She'd arrived early in the morning to five consecutive appointments. Not exactly the slow day she was expecting.

Ino let her eyes roam her office freely, regarding her dark grey walls with little interest as she scanned the room. Did she want to read before she makes the trip back home? She gazed at her bookshelf on the right side of her door—nah, her patient's issues were drama enough.

With a final sigh, she gathered the last bit of resolution she needed to stand up and make her way home. Pushing the wheeled swivel chair back, she stood and stretched her back.

"…ke! Come back!" Ino whirled to look at the door that had burst open to reveal a carbon copy of her childhood crush except he was several feet shorter and lacked the usual threat of death that hung around the older Uchiha on a regular basis.

"Suke-kun!" she exclaimed, weariness leaving her body at the sight of the first Uchiha child. "Ino-obachan! I want to be a sprinter!" His face was full of joyous pride at the declaration. He then jabbed a thumb at her young secretary who was next to him; hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath.

"I thought you wanted to be a secretary?" She said in between huge gulps of air. Daisuke scrunched up his face cutely and made a grumbling noise. "Nah, secretaries are slow." He mumbled; Ino noted that he had the bluntness of his father but enough of his mother to leave offense out of his tone.

Ino laughed out loud and put a hand on her table. "Yep, they're slow. Especially with coffee."

"Yamanaka-sama." Kimiko reddened at the blonde's little jab. The coffee machine was new and she had no idea how the recently added features did. _Every _secretary had a hard time with it except the old lady at the front desk…but she was old and gifted so she didn't count.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "You need to learn to take a joke, Kimi-chan." With all the serious work she did with the ANBU psych department, including interrogations, plus all the work she does as a therapist in the hospital, the last thing she needed was a uptight secretary.

"Sakura, making me babysit?" she asked the now-recovered Kimiko.

"Yours 'til seven."

Ino clapped happily and pranced to Daisuke, hoisting him up in the air making him laugh in delight. "She calls in the fairy godmother again, did she?" Well, to Sakura, she was their son's godmother. To Sasuke, however, she was just the slave that watched the baby when they were busy.

He even said he'd rather Hinata be Daisuke's godmother. And so the lucky tyke had gotten two godmothers to shower him with affection.

Not a bad deal.

Daisuke smiled a heart achingly beautiful smile and Ino couldn't help but think that this was what Sasuke would look like when he smiled. The kid had three more years until wild females attacked him while their desperate mothers attacked Sakura hoping to get their daughters engaged to the first next-generation Uchiha.

With good genes came great hostility.

"Ino-baa! You're a fairy?" the child asked. Kimiko looked alarmed, having spent at least five minutes with the toddler, she knew where this was heading. And so she did what any good secretary would do.

She left the room.

* * *

At exactly seven in the evening, the Uchiha household's doorbell rang. Sakura ran down the stairs and open the door, ready to collect her son from his godmother. She threw the door open wide and grinned, greeting her son and friend animatedly.

Ino's face however looked a little worried. Sakura's grin faltered. "What happened?" her mind sent a flurry of possible things that could've gone wrong.

The blonde set Daisuke down and waved him inside. "Kami-sama, forehead. I'm so glad _you _answered the door." Ino's usual outrageous attitude was nowhere and her face was pale. Alarm bells went off in Sakura's head.

Oh, kami-sama, did Daisuke kill someone?

She was too busy trying to defend her son's motives to see Ino wave something in front of her. It took a hard poke on the forehead from the blonde to snap her out of her mental courtroom. Sakura blinked rapidly and focused on the object that was being waved under her nose.

Her green eyes widened. "Oh my…"

"Sakura!" Sasuke's deep baritone echoed from the second floor. Ino stiffened and waved. "Gotta go, Sak! Bye!" she rushed the sentence out and bolted as soon as she had finished, leaving Sakura alone to face the crisis she had caused alone.

* * *

Sasuke had been changing when his son had barged into the room yelling and mumbling. With a shirt over his head, the older Uchiha couldn't understand a word. And so after he'd settled his hyperactive son on the bed Sasuke asked him to repeat what he said.

"I want to be a fairy."

He asked Daisuke to repeat it again.

And again, _and again. _

"Sakura!"

There was a sound of commotion downstairs; a door banging shut, a string of curses and hurried footsteps. Sakura walked in the room, red-faced and mouth taut. She approached the tensed patriarch slowly with her hands up. "Look, Sasuke…"

Sasuke snapped, his face went livid and he glared at her. He couldn't even voice out what he just heard Daisuke say moments ago. His brain had somehow banned his vocal chords from saying the words 'Our son wants to be a fairy. What the fuck.'

Well those last three words got out fine.

If Ino wasn't on Sasuke's good graces before, she surely was never going to be in it now; the hardness in Sasuke's obsidian orbs was proof enough. "That blonde is never babysitting him again." Sakura saw this reaction coming. But it wasn't Ino's fault, had she known that Daisuke was an information sponge at such an early age, she would've been more careful.

She cast a watchful eye on her son on the bed, blissfully ignorant while he played with a toy.

"I know a lot of blondes." Sakura couldn't believe she was actually defending Ino. What was she hoping for…a divorce?

"The annoying one." Sasuke retorted.

"I can think of two."

"The florist." His voice was getting more and more agitated with every reply he got from Sakura.

"I don't think she'd appreciate that comment." After all, her mind jutsus were put to good use, she was working with the ANBU with interrogations and being a psychoanalyst. Ino just had the shop as a hobby.

"I don't appreciate her convincing my son to be a fairy."

The rosette tried her hardest to smile despite her husband's black mood. And when it was black, it was black _black—_no light, just dark kind of black. A black that could mean, if she were a missing nin, a chidori down the throat kind of black. "I think the tiara looks cute on—

"Don't start Sakura."

Daisuke realized his mother's presence and darted off the bed. Sasuke snatched the tiara off his head and threw it out the open window. "Kaa-san did, Ino-obasan give you my toy?" asked an excited Daisuke, unaware of his missing head piece.

Sasuke's head snapped up and his eyes zeroed in on Sakura's panic-stricken ones. "What toy?" he growled.

"This one!" Daisuke exclaimed, popping out from behind Sakura and holding up a wand. He waved the plastic toy around whimsically. "I'm a fairy!" Sasuke glared at his wife, she raised her hands up. "Hey, I tried to hide it."

"You should've burned it before coming up." Sasuke looked so mad and confused. "Daisuke, put that wand _down. _And don't go near the window." God knows what'd happen if their neighbours got sight of Uchiha Sasuke's first child with a wand and declaring his ambition to be a powerful fairy.

The two parents stared at their little boy. How were they supposed to handle this? Because no one said Daisuke wanting to be a fairy was the last thing on their minds. Sasuke walked to where Sakura stood just staring helplessly at their son. He bent his head down and whispered. "We're banning fairytales."

Sakura nodded and held her hand out for him to shake. "I'll buy ninja books and a toy kunai." She felt her husband shake her hand. "You start training him tomorrow."

"Agreed."

* * *

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PS: I've said it before, I'll say it again. I do believe Ino's mind jutsus put her in a place where she can be a psychoanalyst and interrogator. And she seems to have a nice relationship with Ibiki and I totally see him taking her under his wing. And it's fanfiction, it's free interpretation for all.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**: Pep-talks and Tough Love: Seven year olds were easier to console than fifteen year olds. Especially when the kid in question was having self-esteem issues. Stupid hormones.

* * *

SPECIAL BIRTHDAY CHAPTER THAT I WROTE ON SASUKE'S BIRTHDAY. OKAY. I UPLOADED LATE BUT I WROTE IT ON THAT DATE SO. STILL COUNTS =)

oh, and I know I went from child to teen. I told you it was in no order :) whatver comes, I type. Haha ENJOY. :)

* * *

Thanks for all the love for this series. Reviews make me happy, keep them coming? =) really, they make my day.

XX

Ah yes, that time of the year has come when a Shinobi of his calibre was told that he had once again survived another year of his life as a ninja, and in Uchiha Sasuke's case, a parent. And he had to say, surviving another year of parenthood was more surprising a feat than him living through S-ranked missions.

Having a one year old girl and a seven year old boy was harder than any training course imaginable. Between diapers and getting trapped in an ambush? Yeah—he'd take ambush. Plus now one kid was developing some sass in his little system. Gone were those 'cute' days when the child would take his answers as is and let the question go; Now he had a kid who wouldn't stop questioning _him_.

Daisuke was seven—he wasn't supposed to get sassy until fourteen; ten at the earliest. He did still have that cute innocence but wow was the sass beginning to show. He figured it must be from Sakura, that woman oozed sass and spunk, training with Tsunade didn't help his case either.

And so now, while other parents enjoyed and fawned over their seven year old's (he wouldn't say gullibility, mental malleability was more like it) he would sit through an argument over why the sky was blue and that it wasn't because of stupid ninjas who paint it everyday. Whoever gave his son that idea was surely going to die a painful death.

Sky-painting ninjas his ass. What the hell was wrong with them?

Sasuke glared at his paperwork and shoved them to the side of his desk carelessly, glancing outside his window that took up half of the wall behind him. It was his birthday and he was in his office going through ANBU profiles and arranging them by alphabetical order—wasn't there an assistant for that?

He was Head Captain of all of ANBU—he called the shots; arranged missions, pass or fail potential members. He was called to do the scariest missions— paperwork should not be added to his list of duties.

"Tou-san, come down already." An irked male voice, that Sasuke wasn't used to, came drifting into the room, pulling Sasuke away from his list of possible assistants that could file his top secret files. Dark eyes looked away from his window, his body followed; soon he was staring at the identical black eyes his son had—and they looked irritated.

Oh boy.

"You said ten more minutes—it's been thirty." His son complained again. Daisuke in a manner that just told the world that he was Uchiha Sasuke's son strode to his father's paper-littered desk and eyed him seriously.

"I want to go home." His day had been tiring. All he wanted to do was go home—but no. His father had to keep him waiting.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his boy's bluntness. "You and I both, kid. But suck it up, I'll be down when I'm done." Annoying brat—who did he think he was? Bossing him around like that.

"Tou-san." Sasuke glared at the young Uchiha. "Fine, but you're running laps tomorrow for sassing me." He grumbled lowly, getting up, his papers clutched close to his chest, and beginning to put the files back into their proper places in the huge filing drawer that stood against the wall next to his bookshelves.

"Tou-san," his son began again this time, his tone had completely changed into one of thoughtfulness. Daisuke watched his powerful father walk back and forth with folders in his arms and an irritated look on his features.

He wondered whether his question would set Sasuke off.

"What is it, Daisuke?" mumbled the Uchiha patriarch as he scanned the profile once more before pushing it back down and slamming the drawer shut with a swift kick.

Sasuke who'd previously had his back turned, was now looking expectantly at his son. Daisuke swallowed a lump down his throat and steeled himself for the question he was about to ask his father.

"Daisuke, what do you—

With his eyes squeezed shut and his shoulders tensed to the fullest, Daisuke blurted out the question quickly. He figured, make it a quick death. "What if I don't graduate from the Academy early?" he asked nervously, fisting his small hands and not even bothering to open his eyes.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and let out a small breath of laughter. "Suke, I was twelve when I graduated—I don't expect you to graduate early." He walked up to his son and knelt down so he could look at him properly.

Daisuke felt his father's eyes on him and slowly began to open his big eyes to stare into his father's. He'd heard of all the stories about his Ji-san, Uchiha Itachi, being able to leave the academy after only _one _year. He'd been teased by a few students about how the Uchiha clan wouldn't be the same—that they'd be nothing compared to the previous generations.

Uchiha Sasuke would be the last of the good ones, they said and it nagged him to no end, exhausting him and keeping him tossing around as he slept—or tried to

. He told his father all every bit of it; every concern and every worry that were all so hidden behind his false smiles.

Sasuke listened intently to what was keeping his son in turmoil.

When Daisuke finished, Sasuke had already formulated his pep-talk, though he wasn't much for sweet encouragement, he'd give his son and himself a break. "Ok," he started off, gently taking his son's balled fists and squeezing them.

Sasuke had a speech in his head, he'd readily prepared it while his son had been talking, he _was _ready to give his little talk. But somehow all the words had gone haywire in his brain the moment he opened his mouth. But it was his son's face that made him pull it together and push through anyway.

"You have my genes and you have your mother's—how could you possibly think that you'd amount to nothing?" Sasuke felt the words take over; his restraints were slowly being pulled away because he knew, first hand, what it felt like to be in someone's shadow; the struggles it brought and the disappointment that followed. When he was a child, he had no one to lift him up, he only had himself—a seven year old couldn't fathom what he was exactly going through at that very stage in his life. From his point of view, he simply sucked—wasn't good enough— and he carried that with him for so long.

His son would _not _feel that way. Ever.

"But you were trained by Kakashi, then by sanins—you guys are…are so powerful and have done so much." What else could be accomplished that his parents hadn't already done? He didn't want to be the son that paled to comparison next to his parents.

"You will be a great shinobi in your own right."

* * *

"My own right, my ass! Tou-san, you've been saying that for years!" a fifteen year-old cried out, hitting a the floor with a chakra infused fist, damaging the wall a great amount, before pulling back and crossing his arms to his chest.

"My case still remains." said a tired Sasuke, from across the flat rooftop, who was still dressed in battle gear. He'd just gotten home from a mission a few hours ago and was about to turn in an initial report to the Hokage when his wife and children bombarded him with news: Sayako, their youngest, had just finished her time in the Academy—only two years short from Itachi's graduation. He'd graduated at the age of six, while his daughter finished at the age of eight.

Eight years old and out of the Academy, his daughter was a prodigy.

So of course, he family had gone out to town to celebrate, Sakura had dragged the protesting Patriarch away from the Hokage tower and ordered him to have another ANBU officer do it. Seeing as her mind was set, Sasuke called for Hyuuga Neji, who'd co-captained the mission, to give the report in his stead.

They had dinner at a nice restaurant and walked around the night market. The impromptu celebratiton went pretty smoothly—up until Daisuke disappeared, resulting to a minor freak-out from Sakura and a small outburst from Sayako. Sasuke, being, well…Sasuke, had told the girls to enjoy the night while he looked for his escapist son; he had a nagging feeling in his gut that Daisuke was having mixed feelings over his sister's newfound brand as a prodigy.

True enough, after following a trail of destruction which were composed of cracked walls and bruised trees, he found his angsty fifteen-year old sulking by an abandoned building's rooftop.

Sasuke slowly made his way to a trembling Daisuke. "She activated her Sharingan today too." He heard his son mutter quietly. He was happy for his sister—_extremely_. He couldn't be more proud of her. Who wouldn't be? His sister was a certified genius child who basically put other kids her age to shame by graduating years before the usual time.

She was in the leagues of Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi, the three sanins. But aside from his joy, there was disappointment—in himself. He wasn't a prodigy.

He was used to 'Oh the gifted, kid?' or 'Damn, this kid is good.' But now, it was: 'Yeah, he's pretty good but have you heard about his sister?' or 'He's talented but his _sister…_she's a prodigy."

Daisuke always had enough confidence in himself. But slowly, it trickled down. He graduated at the age of twelve which wasn't at all bad. His father graduated at the age of twelve so that wasn't a big deal—but the Sharignan? Sasuke had gotten his at twelve. While, Daisuke… He'd just gotten it last year; two years later than his father and a whopping _six _years later than his sister; his _younger _sister.

Another punch aimed at the roof followed by a grunt of frustration when his hand went through the flat concrete roof. "Fuck." He muttered, trying to pull his fist out.

As soon as news spread that the second born of the Uchiha family had outshined her brother, Daisuke had been teased nonstop; he was referred to as the 'error' child—like a tester before the actual good one was produced.

What happened to 'Gifted Kid?' he went from that to: 'Gifted Kid but not a prodigy like his sister.'

Daisuke slumped even lower. He'd ceased the punching and was now just staring off at the dark and star spangled sky.

Sasuke had just about had enough of his older Uchiha sat next to his son and stared out into the horizon. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself." He thought he'd put a lid on this back when he was seven—it was alright to feel like an underdog. Sasuke was one at some point; the younger Uchiha who was gifted but not as gifted his brother. But he strove on, aimed to get stronger—made wrong decisions while he was at it, but eventually he found his path _and _a place in history, away from the shadow.

A place that was his own.

"Easy for you to say." His son muttered. "You graduated at twelve only because you weren't cooperating." If Sasuke hadn't been uncooperative, he'd probably have gotten out sooner."

At his answer, the older Uchiha couldn't help but scoff. "Yeah—tends to happen when your whole clan was murdered." It was a sarcastic punch but it hit home. Daisuke clamped his mouth shut and looked away, glaring at a black bird that was perched at the building's ledge.

"You just have to strive harder—

"What will that do?!" the teenager ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to soothe his temper—it didn't work. His father's presence fuelled his fiery temper much more; leaving him in a pit of black flames licking and growing with every second his spent trying to reassure him that everything was fine.

Being pushed down by insecure people was normal but he was handling this the wrong way. Daisuke was letting them blind him of his natural gifts.

Sasuke stood and stared down at his son. "You want me to acknowledge that you are weak? _Fine. _You _are_. Every bit of skill that we've passed down to you, be it genetically or be training, will be of no use if you let what people think affect you." He knew what he was doing. Sasuke was pissing his son off. Just like how Itachi prodded him and used Sasuke's anger to drive him to get up and surpass him—it was what made him stronger. When he felt like giving up, that anger driven determination would spark up and make him go a forward.

Sometimes it took anger to spark something.

In the end, the Uchiha who'd forever been in his brother's shadow stood before the world as the strongest Uchiha.

"Do you know what I did just to become stronger?" He asked his son who was boiling with anger. "I trained and trained and _trained. _Sought different teachers, practiced—the methods I used may have been not as morally right, but the thought was there. Look at your mother. You want underdog? _Look at your mother._"

Heck, Daisuke wasn't even an underdog. The kid was talented. Sakura even questioned being a shinobi; she was gifted but not as much as her two team mates who'd come from a powerful background. But she worked with what she had. Sakura was damn proud to be an underdog that jumped to the top. She'd worked relentlessly and tirelessly at becoming better and for years she would still fall hopelessly short when it came to a quick comparison amongst them. They were ahead of the game, ridiculously powerful. While she was just the intelligent girl with amazing chakra and a caring hear. But she pressed on. And when her time came, she shone—brighter than ever.

She'd reached them. Maybe not as quickly, but she was finally at par. Team seven was now an even playing field.

"Throwing a fit won't get you anywhere—you want to get stronger? Train. Train until you bleed; until you can't get up." Sasuke stared hard at his son.

* * *

Later in the evening, while Sayako and Sakura were curled up in bed, Uchiha Sasuke lay awake on his side, listening to the faint sound of kunai and shuriken cutting through wind and embedding themselves into tree trunks.

Daisuke had been at it for an hour.

"More force." He whispered, as he evaluated each hit and coming up with a thousand ways it could be done better. His son was good—better than most, actually. He was in his own right, a great shinobi. What Daisuke had to realize was that, Sayako still had ways to go—comparing himself to her was useless.

Sayako's chakra control wasn't as highly refined as Daisuke's when he was her age.

He had great chakra control, speed, strength and the intelligence to take on a Nara kid. Graduated with the highest rankings during the Chuunin exams and led his team through a fifty-man ambush in a supposedly C-ranked mission. Wasn't this impressive enough? Sure he wasn't a prodigy. But those came only once in a while.

There was prodigy and there was talented. Prodigies go through the process easily because they were graced enough that they were born prodigies. Talented was when had a remarkable skillset, but well you had to work a little harder than the prodigies. _But _that didn't make you any less of a shinobi. . Sasuke wasn't a prodigy—that was his brother. But he wasn't chopped liver either. He was gifted; and he knew that, he knew that _well_.

There was only a small difference; prodigies rode the wave easier. While the talented, still had to work a little harder.

People would still kill for the talent that Daisuke had. Not many shinobi were born with that much talent in them.

Daisuke was on his way to becoming Jounin and already, ANBU wanted him. Of course ANBU was entirely a different system, they had their own curriculum. But either way, once he had enough experience as a jounin, Daisuke would make up his own mind about joining the black-ops.

_THUD. _

_THUD. _

Sasuke smirked when his ears picked up the familiar sound of fists hitting something solid. Daisuke had abandoned his knives and was now giving Taijutsu a go. He heard every punch, kick and body slam his son aimed at the poor tree. With a quick glance at his wife, he threw his covers off and began to get dressed.

He pulled on a black shirt and a pair of white training shorts, grabbing a pouch of kunai and shuriken and securing them to his upper thigh.

"Sasuke?" muttered sleepily while shifting her weight and lolling her head to the side to get a better view of him. Her husband smirked at her. "I'm going to go make sure he doesn't kill the tree." The rosette nodded and stretched. "Tell him his punches and kicks need more strength"

The dark-haired Uchiha gave her an amused smirk. "I will." Sakura sat up and stared at her hands. "You know he told me that you called him weak…" she started off slowly, twisting the sheets in her hands as she said the words.

Sasuke dropped his hand from the doorknob and cocked his head at her. "And?"

The rosette on the bed let go of the sheets as she straightened her back. She gave Sasuke smirk that he could be a proud of and opened her mouth to speak.

"I said suck it up and get stronger then. That's what I did."

* * *

His fist was bleeding; a lot.

The calm night air did nothing for the pain that throbbed all over his atrociously battered fist; his skin to fist ratio was off by a mile, there was barely any skin left on his fist. Daisuke wondered why he didn't feel the pain until he decided to stop and take a sip of water. It was probably the word 'weak' that drove him on.

His father had called him weak—the very thing he did not want to be. People saw him as strong and skilled in battle, but if his father thought he still needed to improve, then, he needed to.

He eyed the bloody tree and glanced back down to his bleeding fist, wincing as the wind blew and icy gust of wind. "Guess, I'll have to heal this myself." He was well-trained in the medic area thanks to his mother. She always stressed the importance of knowing how to patch up injuries despite not being the team's medic.

Daisuke found a huge rock a few feet from the tree he'd been torturing and hooped on, sitting down with this legs crossed as he cradled his wrecked fist. Punching a tree without gloves, that wasn't exactly a good idea, he thought as he angled his hand more to the left to inspect the damage. "Doesn't look too bad." He said to himself quietly. He'd have to heal this well or his mother would find out and slap a pair of gloves across his face to prove their importance.

"For damage like that, I expected this thing to be uprooted." A deep voice cut through the quiet night air. Daisuke stood and wiped off the blood using his towel. "I'm not kaa-san." He barely skimmed the surface of his mom's brute strength—that woman could pound a mountain down if she found the need to.

It was scary.

"You can be. You have the chakra control for it." Sasuke said, pointing to his glowing hand that was over his bleeding one. Healing took great chakra control and immense concentration—the kid had it _and _the sharingan. That was some serious infrastructure he had going on.

Now if only he'd just acknowledge it.

"You're gifted, Daisuke. _Immensely_. It's you mentality that's limiting you—you don't need to be a prodigy to be great." The fifteen year old 'Sasuke clone' stared at his father thoughtfully. "You really think so?"

Sasuke answered by pointing that the dents he'd made on the tree with a casual flick of his index finger. "Yes." He saw his son smile and puff his chest up a little bit like he used to do when he was younger. Daisuke stared at his handiwork, the pain that engulfed his hand, forgotten temporarily as his eyes took in the deformity that was once a strong tree. "Some serious damage, huh?" he asked, a little pride lacing his voice.

The older Uchiha couldn't help but smile a little at his son's returning confidence.

"You could do better." Sasuke half expected him to throw another fit of rage and maybe even mutter a few expletives. But instead, Daisuke smirked and gave Sasuke a look that told the older Uchiha the challenge was _on._

"I know I can. Give me a month, I'll be putting holes through them in no time." Sasuke was relieved that Daisuke was sounding like himself again.

"I want them _uprooted_." Daisuke was beginning to get that look of pride again. His shoulders were stretched and his head was held way higher compared to earlier. There was the Daisuke he knew; the kid who knew he was bio-engineered to be the best of the best of the best.

"Done. Oh, and Tou-san?"

Sasuke lifted a brow, addressing his son. "Don't call me weak _ever again_." His voice held a tenor that would make other people cower in fear—but Sasuke, yeah, he wasn't like other people.

"I'll stop when you aren't." There was a silent message between father and son. Suddenly the air had changed between; it was not filled with challenge and determination. "I wasn't a prodigy. But I surpassed my sanin mentor, Hatake Kakashi, though he still puts up one hell of a fight, and, in a way, my brother. Everyone knows me as the strongest Uchiha—I made history. But I wasn't a prodigy." Sakura and Naruto weren't prodigies. They saw what they had and worked with it.

The younger Uchiha smiled. "To think you were only talented." He joked lightly, giving his father a sly look that was returned with a shrug. "That and I had great teachers." With that, the dark-haired Uchiha Patriarch crossed his well-toned arms and gave Daisuke a steely look. "Now go give me twently laps around the compound, then we'll practice your chakra control."

* * *

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**sorry for typos.**

**It's a little short but, I've got too many exams and things to do. Hello, student life. Go College. **


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